


A Fair-ly Good Time

by galianogangster



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:31:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21541390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galianogangster/pseuds/galianogangster
Summary: Kimberly goes to the county fair by herself, only to find a few familiar faces and one new, beautiful one.**NOW WITH PART 2**
Relationships: Kimberly Hart & Trini, Kimberly Hart/Trini
Comments: 32
Kudos: 135





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Had a dream that I could make into a Trimberly ficlet, so I did. I've always wanted to write for this ship, but I wasn't sure how to go about it, so it was a fun little exercise for me! Enjoy!

“Go to the fair with your friends,” they said. Little did they know she didn’t have any friends anymore, not really. Her parents didn’t want her to “waste this beautiful summer day cooped up inside,” so here stood Kimberly Hart, at the county fair, alone, on a Friday.  
  
As much as the concept of going on rides, seeing the animals and art, eating fair food, and playing carnival games enticed her, she still wasn’t so sure it would be as enjoyable alone. But, not wanting to raise suspicion, she took her parents advice and their money and drove to the fairgrounds. Even though it was summer and a Friday, there was less people walking around then she had anticipated. Perhaps it was because it was still early, she figured, heading to the midway, intending to go on rides before the lines were excruciatingly long. To her surprise, none of the rides were going, and there wasn’t a carnival worker in sight. Not even the food trucks were open. Frowning in confusion, she whipped out her phone and visited the fair’s website.  
  
“Shit,” she cursed, reading that the carnival portion would not be open until three in the afternoon. Eyes still glued to her phone screen, Kimberly nearly ran right into an old woman. An apology was falling from her lips, without a second thought, before she noticed the faraway look in the woman’s small, blue eyes. She observed her for a moment, realizing that the lady didn’t seem to be walking anywhere in particular and was mumbling to herself.  
  
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Kimberly said.  
  
Feet continued shuffling and mouth continued mumbling.  
  
Kimberly hesitated. The woman hadn’t responded; it was the perfect opportunity to just forget about it, and move on. But she still had an hour to kill, and she couldn’t help but think about how many people had already passed this woman by without offering assistance. She cleared her throat, then tapped lightly onto the woman’s shoulder. “Excuse me, ma’am?”  
  
The woman finally turned, and Kimberly watched as her eyes regained a modicum of clarity. “Oh, hello, dear! My goodness, how tan you’ve gotten!” she gasped, taking Kimberly’s cheeks in her hands. “I told you to put more sunscreen on! Come, let’s stand in the shade,” the lady said, guiding Kimberly under the overhang of a nearby building. “And what are you wearing, young lady?” she exclaimed upon catching sight of Kimberly’s pink bra, the straps peeking out from her tank top and criss-crossing along her chest. “You’re changing as soon as we get back to the trailer! W-where is your brother?” the old woman wondered, placing her hand on Kimberly’s shoulder. “He’s supposed to be watching you!”  
  
Kimberly’s head was reeling at this point. “My brother?”  
  
“Yes, Jason!”  
  
This lady clearly thought she was someone else. “Uh, no, actually! Where was the last place you remember seeing him?” Kimberly pressed, trying to work with the confused woman without scaring or offending her.  
  
She stood there, mouth open, for an uncomfortably long time.  
  
Kimberly’s patience only went so far, so after not receiving a response, she tried another question. “Alright, uh, who was he with when you saw him last?”  
  
To that, the woman snapped out of her trance of sorts. “Oh, that friend of his, you know, the darkie,” she replied casually.  
  
Great. The one person she decided to help today is your everyday, all-American, senile, racist grandmother. Kimberly shook her head, internally asking herself why she makes so many bad decisions. With the turn of her head, she noticed a girl standing a few feet away, phone in hand but completely ignored, like she had been texting but became distracted.  
  
The first thing Kimberly saw was that the latina was exceptionally beautiful. She was wearing stark white sneakers and ripped-up jeans. The grey flannel tied loosely around her waist featured a clip-on name tag that had the printed name “Didi” crossed out and the name “Trini” written on the top in sharpie. Her dandelion yellow crop top exposed abs with just enough definition that Kimberly’s eyes lingered there for a few seconds longer, and her heart beat just a little faster. Dark, wavy hair cascaded around her right shoulder, as the left side was neatly braided skin-tight by the temple. The girl’s dark eyes seemed to bore right into Kimberly’s soul. And they kept boring into her soul, as it seemed the two were now gazing at each other with equal intensity.  
  
The girl, Trini, was the first to break, blinking quickly and shifting her weight. “Why are you staring at me?” she spat, crossing her arms defensively.  
  
Kimberly quirked an eyebrow. “You know, you were the one staring at me first,” she reminded her. “Looked like you wanted to have a chat,” she added, feeling brave.  
  
“Yeah, maybe in an hour when you’re done helping your charity case,” Trini scoffed lightly, nodding towards the old woman who had wandered off again at this point.  
  
“Shit,” Kimberly whispered as she whipped her head around to relocate the woman. Once she was in her sights again, she turned back to face the beautiful stranger. “Why don’t you take that hour to write your phone number down for me?” she quipped, throwing in a wink for good measure. The last thing she saw before running to catch up with the woman was Trini’s burning cheeks.  
  
* * *  
  
After wandering around for way too long, the last place Kimberly had to look for the woman’s family was the commercial building, which was swarming with people due to the rides and food trucks not being open yet. A single booth was the only option for food at the moment, and business was booming. Kimberly scanned the crowd for non-white attendees, a relatively easy task in the small town of Angel Grove.  
  
“Is that Jason’s friend?” Kimberly asked, pointing to her classmate, Billy Cranston, smiling politely at the cash register of the food booth.  
  
Before she could answer, a tall boy with jet black hair and an angular face saw them and yelled “Jason! Jason, your nan is here!”  
  
From the back of the food booth came none other than Jason Lee Scott, football star and school heartthrob. He squeezed through the crowd of people, who easily made way for him because he was practically drenched in sweat, likely from working in the kitchen in the middle of summer. Even his signature wave of hair was disheveled and greasy. “Nan! Nan, what are you doing here?” he wondered worriedly.  
  
“Pearl was lost, the poor thing! You need to keep a better eye on your little sister!” the woman chastised.  
  
Jason finally looked up, eyes widening and jaw dropping when he finally noticed whose arm his grandmother had been holding onto. Catching on to the situation, he threw Kimberly a sheepish glance.  
  
“I’m sorry, Nan. It won’t happen again,” he apologized sincerely, taking her arm from Kimberly. “Now let’s head back to the trailer, okay? It’s nice and cool in there, and I’ll even put on your favorite show; how’s that sound?” he said, earning a hum of agreement. “Pearl, you, uh, stay here with everyone until I get back. Here, get yourself some food,” he suggested, pulling out his wallet and handing Kimberly a five dollar bill with a pleading look.  
  
“I will. Thanks, Jason,” she replied, playing along.  
  
“Zack!” Jason yelled, catching the attention of the tall, pale boy, who had been smirking and talking to Trini, whose eyes widened when Kimberly looked their way. “Man the kitchen while I’m gone, will ya?”  
  
“You got it, cap!” Zack yelled back. He leaned down to whisper something in Trini’s ear, earning him a prompt fist to the arm. His laughter could be heard all the way from where Kimberly stood, despite the noisy crowd. Trini’s attention was now taken by distributing food to customers, so Kimberly sauntered over to the back of the line.  
  
Jason returned right before Kimberly had made it to the front of the line, and he spotted her easily. “Hey, I’m so sorry about that! I don’t even know how she got out of the trailer by herself, just yesterday she couldn’t figure out how the doors on it worked,” he apologized. “Maybe I can make it up to you another time?”  
  
“It’s alright, you’re already making it up to me with deep fried cookie dough bites, _big brother_ ,” Kimberly winked lightheartedly.  
  
Jason laughed in response, slipping his hands in his back pockets and looking at the ground. “Yeah, alright; I guess that’s fair. See ya around,” he waved, excusing himself through the crowd and heading back into the kitchen.  
  
“-aware, there’s only a seventy-percent chance your order will be exactly as requested,” Kimberly heard Billy telling a customer while handing them their change.  
  
“What do yo-“  
  
“Next!”  
  
As she moved up to the cash register, she was greeted by Billy’s wide smile and kind eyes. “Oh, Kimberly! I would love to ask you how you are, but I’m not supposed to engage in conversation with customers because it holds up the line,” he informed her politely before clearing his throat. “Hello, thank you for supporting our organization! Can I take your order?”  
  
The boy’s smile was infectious, and the corner of Kimberly’s mouth turned upwards as he spoke. “Yeah, I’ll have the deep fried cookie dough bites, please.”  
  
“Is that all?”  
  
“Yep!”  
  
“Your total is four dollars even! Out of five? And here is one dollar back! Have a great day, Kimberly! Enjoy the fair; it was nice seeing you!”  
  
“Thank you! You, too!” Kimberly said, stepping to the side to wait for her order.  
  
Trini hastily emerged from the kitchen and yelled out an order for “Beverly,” who must have been the woman beside Kimberly because she took the tray of nachos from the girl.  
  
She was about to leave, but changed her mind once she got a look at her food. “I said no jalapeños.”  
  
Trini, who was already halfway back to the kitchen, smoothly turned on her heel and smiled at the woman dryly. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you allergic?”  
  
“No, I ju-“  
  
“Then pick them off!” she barked.  
  
The woman scoffed and left as Zack came out with another order for a man and his daughter.  
  
“God, white people act like a little flavor is the worst thing in the world,” Trini mumbled to Zack, who laughed in reply.  
  
A young teenage boy approached the counter, an unwrapped burger in his hand. “Uh, excuse me, but you forgot to put mus-“ he started, but was cut off by an honest-to-god _growl_ by Trini, which sent him literally running away.  
  
Kimberly couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene, earning Zack’s attention. “Next one’s yours!” he said before running back to the kitchen, leaving a confused Trini alone behind the counter.  
  
The second her brown eyes met Kimberly’s, they widened, and she quickly made her way to the kitchen door. Once she was nearly there, Zack stood in the doorway with a white paper bag and a sharpie in his hand. He tried handing it to her, but she was shaking her head and pushing it back to him. Her next approach was to try to squeeze through the nonexistent gap between Zack’s body and the doorway. After that, she attempted to shove past him to get through the door. As feisty as she was, she had nothing on the other boy’s size. Finally, Trini sighed and snatched the bag and sharpie from him. Her hands were mostly hidden from view, but it looked like she was scrawling something before handing the marker back to him. The boy smirked and watched as Trini approached the counter.  
  
“Kimberly,” she announced, looking around and (poorly) acting like she didn’t know exactly whose order it was.  
  
“Trini,” Kimberly addressed, loving the way the smaller girl jumped just a little at being called by her name.  
  
“Here you go,” she said nonchalantly, holding out the bag from the bottom, practically forcing Kimberly’s hand to touch hers so she could get a proper grip.  
  
“Thanks,” Kimberly said, smiling at the other girl and holding her gaze while their hands touched for longer than necessary.  
  
“Is your, uh-is your order right?” Trini asked, stuffing her hands in her pockets in an attempt to seem casual.  
  
Kimberly’s head tilted, not expecting the question after the interactions she just witnessed. Her hands fumbled a little when she opened the bag to look inside. “Uh, yeah, I think so...kind of hard to tell when it’s deep fried,” she said, moving some napkins and eyeing the ambiguous spheres.  
  
“Right,” Trini replied quietly. “Well, enjoy the fair. I would recommend waiting a while after eating those to go on rides, though...” she added as an afterthought.  
  
“Gotcha,” Kimberly responded, nodding awkwardly before heading outside to a picnic table to eat. She sat down and opened the bag, which had her name neatly written in looping script. The deep fried cookie dough bite was still hot, but she popped it into her mouth anyway and moaned softly at the taste. It was heavenly but also incredibly greasy, she realized, reaching back into the bag to retrieve a napkin. It was a couple inches from her face before she noticed that it was already dirty. Her lips pulled into a frown, thinking maybe some chocolate melted onto the paper, but once she got a closer look, it was clear that it wasn’t dirty at all. Seven numbers were messily written onto it in sharpie.  
  
Guess she would be having a good day after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thank you all for suggesting I continue this story! I had an absolute blast with it, and it brought back so many amazing memories of my county's fair! If any of the rides confuse you, you can google them because I used their actual names! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this! Also, feel free to check out my Trimberly playlist on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/33zlHh92WBgLrEYOqIajMv

“So it was you; I should have guessed,” came a voice from behind her.

Kimberly spun to face the noise, only to be met face-to-face with a pine tree. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she began to walk around it, hoping to find the human behind the response. Through the needles, she saw a flash of yellow, and her suspicions were confirmed. “How did you  _ not _ know it was me?”

“Random text from an unknown number. ‘Meet me at five down by the lake’...” Trini trailed off.

No matter how far around the tree Kimberly went, Trini was faster and remained out of sight. “If you didn’t know who it was, why would you actually show up? And why would you ask to meet later, when it’s dark out? Isn’t that a little dangerous?” she asked.

“I was intrigued. And I can be invisible if I want to—see if you’re a threat before revealing myself,” Trini claimed, still hidden even though Kimberly had changed directions multiple times in hopes of catching her.

“And am I? A threat?”

“No.”

“Because I’m a woman?” Kimberly guessed, finally standing still. The air around her was still and silent for a few seconds, only the nearby noise of the fairgoers and music playing in the background. Suddenly, there was an arm around her neck, and her phone had been slapped out of her hand. It happened so fast, she didn’t even have time to react.

“No, because you’re not very observant,” came Trini’s low voice, hot against her ear. As quickly as it happened, it was over. Kimberly was free, and Trini was bending down to retrieve the pink-cased phone. She held it out for the other girl expectantly. Now that the sun had set, the girl donned a yellow beanie and wore her flannel instead of tying it around her waist.

“Not so sure I should say thank you?” Kimberly said, narrowing her eyes and putting her phone in her back pocket. “Do you always assault potential dates?”

Trini laughed, the sound short and sharp. “ _ Dates? _ That’s cute, princess.”

“You’re the one who gave me your number,” Kimberly accused, crossing her arms defensively.

“ _ I _ gave you  _ my _ number? Don’t get it twisted.”

Kimberly scoffed. “Yeah. I flirted with you and told you to give me your number, and when I ordered my food later, you wrote your number on a napkin and put it in the bag. Then, you made sure I actually got it by immediately asking me to look inside,” she recalled. “I just didn’t...notice it right away.”

Trini shook her head repeatedly. “I wrote your  _ name _ on the bag, I-“

Kimberly’s palms started to sweat, and her face flushed with humiliation. “Then what’s this,” she asked, slipping her hand into her pocket and taking out the napkin, holding it out as evidence.

Trini stepped closer, then looked at the paper and balked, basically ripping it from the other girl’s hands. She seemed to recognize the handwriting, and her hands balled into fists. “Goddamnit, Zachary Taylor,” she cursed under her breath.

Realizing she had been set up, Kim crouched on the ground and rubbed her face in exasperation, not caring that she might smudge her makeup. This girl was clearly mad her friend had given away her number, and she certainly hadn’t said anything that suggested she was actually interested in her.  _ Way to make a huge fool out of yourself, Kim. You should have just stayed home today. _ “Right then. Sorry to bother you. Enjoy your night,” she said before getting up and hastily walking away. She made it a good twenty feet before there was a small hand on her bicep.

“Wait!” Trini exclaimed, coming around to face the girl. The two stared at each other for a few lengthy seconds while she chewed on her lip. She sighed. “Just because I didn’t give you my number doesn’t mean I don’t want to hang out with you,” she admitted, almost reluctantly.

Kimberly’s eyebrows raised, then furrowed. “But, you said-you sounded so-“

Trini interrupted her with an awkward chuckle. “Haven’t you ever heard of playing hard to get?”

Kim’s mind and pulse raced.

“C’mom; do you want to do rides or games first?” Trini asked, already a few feet away from the other girl, who jogged a little to catch up.

“Uh, maybe we could alternate? Go down the midway and see what we want to do as we go?” Kim suggested, now in pace with the smaller girl.

“Alright,” Trini agreed, suddenly veering left and walking behind a UFO-themed ride.

“Whe-where are we going; the rides are right here?” Kimberly wondered, trying not to trip over the huge chords on the ground.

“This is the  _ end _ of the midway; you wanted to start at the beginning,” Trini reminded her, walking up another hill and into a large building. “If we don’t wanna get heckled, this is the way to get there,” she said, her voice echoing a little. Once they were both inside, she slowed her pace.

At this hour, all the lights were still on, but only a few people wandered about, looking at the art and such that people had entered. Kimberly had killed time in here earlier, waiting for her seven-o’clock date. “Hey, you work for the fair, right? Did you enter anything?” she asked, not remembering seeing any entry tags with the name ‘Trini’. She had been disappointed initially, but she later figured Trini might be short for something.

“Technically, I volunteer. My little brothers are in 4-h, and their group is required to do two shifts at the food booth. I did one with them yesterday, too, but today they were short on people, so they had to recruit some extra help. I usually enter some photography, but didn’t do anything this year. I just focused on helping my brothers with all their fair entries. Diego made a rocket and did shooting sports, and Carlos entered every category of cultural arts before realizing how much work it actually was,” she laughed quietly. “They were cloverbuds last year, so it excited them that they could enter more categories and get different colored ribbons. They definitely have enough of the rainbow ones,” she said, looking at the cloverbud ribbons.

“I like the pink ones; they’re so pretty,” Kimberly commented, admiring the baby pink ribbons with metallic gold lettering hanging on some of the art pieces.

Trini snorted. “Of course you do.”

Kimberly turned to the shorter girl, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms in mock-defiance. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Trini practically stalked up to Kimberly, keeping her eyes locked into brown as she went. When they were face-to-face (well, as face-to-face as they could be with Kimberly being several inches taller), Trini reached up and plucked one of the pink bra straps criss-crossing against Kimberly’s chest, letting it go with a  _ snap _ . “Let me guess; pink’s your favorite color?”

Kimberly was the first to break the gaze, breath hitching and eyes flicking down to the other girl’s plump lips momentarily. “Yeah, so what? There’s nothing wrong with pink.”

“The pink ribbons are fourth place. If you place any lower, you literally don’t even get a ribbon.”

“Still gets a ribbon, though,” Kimberly countered, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t see any yellow ribbons around,” she noted, glancing down at Trini’s yellow beanie and then lower to her yellow crop top, which was even more damnable from this angle. It took her a second too long to bring her gaze back to Trini’s eyes.

If Trini noticed, she didn’t call her out for it. “That’s because it’s the best one,” she smirked, spinning around so fast that Kimberly would have gotten hit by her hair if it hadn’t been tamed by the beanie. She led Kimberly to a long display case located directly in the middle of the building. From the looks of it, it featured one item from every category, each donning a sizable yellow ribbon. “Grand champion, baby,” she said proudly.

Kimberly gazed down into the display, wondering how she managed to miss it earlier. “Okay, those are pretty cool,” she admitted easily. These ribbons were five times the size of the others and were much more ornamental. The shiny yellow fabric was accented with a white stripe. “You ever gotten one?” She wondered.

Trini smiled down at the display, leaning against it. “When I was little, all I wanted was to get one of them. And I’d work so hard, taking the best pictures I could, and every year I thought ‘this is it; it’s my year’. But the judges have all these unspoken rules, and they never liked the pictures I was really proud of because they didn’t fit their ideal. So, one year I gave in and took the kind of picture they wanted. I finally got grand champion. My parents were really proud of me, which doesn’t happen very often,” she added with a short, mirthless laugh. “So every year I’d follow the stupid rules, get another big, shiny ribbon, and spend the day with parents that were happy I was their kid. But it wasn’t as satisfying as I thought it would be when I was younger. The ribbons are still cool as fuck, though.”

Kimberly smiled, surprised that the other girl was so willing to tell her the story. “Is that why you didn’t enter anything this year?” she inquired.

“Yeah,” Trini drawled. “I’d rather win with pictures I really like, you know? Maybe I’ll enter some other kind of photography competition someday,” she added before sighing and continuing their walk through the building. “What about you? You ever win any competitions?”

“Not individually, but my gymnastics and cheerleading teams have both gone to state,” Kimberly shared, easily falling into step with the other girl.

“Oh, I didn’t see you performing in the end-of-the-year assembly...”

Trini said absentmindedly. She was glad to be back outside so the dark could hide her blush once she realized what she said.

“Yeah, I, uh, got kicked off the team...” Kimberly reluctantly admitted before completely comprehending the other girl’s words. Once they caught up to her, she gasped. “You  _ do _ go to Angel Grove High! I thought you looked familiar!” She exclaimed, racking her brain for more information. “We had, uh, English together, right?”

Trini winced. “Biology, actually.”

“Right, sorry.”

“Nah, it’s cool. I don’t expect you to know everyone in your class, especially new kids. Like I said before, I can make myself invisible if I want to,” Trini said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Kimberly watched the girl walking beside her, trying to figure out what to say that might make her smile. Turns out, she didn’t need to say anything at all. Her body collided with plastic, and as she reached out to catch herself, her arm was met with cold water. Thankfully, Trini had better reflexes and pulled Kimberly by the back of her tank top so she didn’t fall in more.

The smaller girl laughed easily, making sure Kimberly was upright and mostly dry before adding her two cents. “Did you get kicked off the team for being a clutz? It’s not  _ that _ dark out.”

Kimberly narrowed her eyes, holding her tongue against the inside of her cheek. Her arm was already wet, so what was the harm? Even though the water was cold, it was worth it to see Trini’s face morph from amusement to panic as a small wave was splashed in her direction.

The second the water touched her, she shrieked, earning more than a few concerned and annoyed stares from fairgoers on the midway, which was not too far away.

They both erupted into a fit of giggles.

“I can’t believe you just did that!” Trini yelled. “If I can’t get the fish smell out of this beanie, you’re buying me a new one,” she threatened, only partially succeeding in sounding angry.

“Fish smell?” Kimberly wondered, bringing her hand to her nose and taking a sniff. Yep, that was definitely fishy.

Trini removed her flannel and shook it out, trying to air-dry it a bit. “Yeah, that’s the pool for the sea lion show,” she laughed, pointing up at the banner. “I saw it earlier with my brothers. Sierra gave me a kiss.”

Kimberly’s face fell. Just when she thought things were going well, she learned there was another girl after Trini—and she had already kissed her.

Trini only laughed harder at the taller girl’s sudden change in expression, making Kimberly flush in embarrassment. “Sierra is a sea lion,” she clarified. “You’re doing just fine,” Trini assured, patting her on the shoulder. “C’mon, we’re going on the Fun Slide first.”

* * *

When Trini suggested they go down the midway, Kimberly didn’t even think of the section of it geared towards children. Every year, when Kimberly came to the fair with her best friends, they went straight to the big rides. She hadn’t been on this side of the fairgrounds in a decade, but Trini insisted that if they wanted the whole midway experience, they needed to take a trip down memory lane.

“There’s no way I’ll be able to fit into this,” Kimberly said, holding the burlap potato sack up to her legs. Trini was already snugly in hers, sitting on the top of the yellow lane of the fun slide.

“Just sit your giraffe legs on top of the sack; you’ll be fine,” Trini suggested. “Just don’t let your skin touch the slide, or it will burn like a bitch on the way down.”

“Noted,” Kimberly muttered, carefully placing the burlap sack on the red lane, earning a smug look from the other girl. “What now? This is red, not pink.”

“Yeah, but pink is like...baby red,” Trini rationalized.

The sheer ridiculousness of the statement only made Kimberly laugh. She hadn’t even noticed the other lanes filling up with children. 

“Do you wanna race?” a little boy sitting in the blue lane asked, his smile revealing a few grossly crooked teeth—like they were begging to come out, but he refused to just pull them. 

“I’m down,” Trini replied, turning to Kimberly. “What about you, princess? You in?”

“Definitely!” Kimberly exclaimed, earning another enthusiastic smile from the boy. 

Before they began, Trini leaned over to whisper something to him, using her hand to further conceal the message. With a nod of confirmation and a mischievous smirk painted upon pretty lips, Trini began the countdown. “One...two…” But before Kimberly could even realize what happened, Trini gripped the sides of the slide and pulled, launching herself down the pale yellow plastic. The little boy was holding onto her arm, not far behind her. Kimberly floundered, scooting her butt a few inches until gravity gave her a helping hand. Near the bottom of the slide, Trini whipped her arm, sending the boy sliding into the cushioned mat—the designated finish line. 

Kimberly couldn’t even be mad at Trini, who was celebrating with the little guy over his victory. Trini high-fived the boy and sent him running happily back to his mother, who was still smiling about the adorable encounter (so was Kimberly). 

With a cocky grin, Trini reached out, silently asking for Kimberly’s burlap sack to place back at the side entrance of the ride. 

“So,” Kimberly started. “Do you always have to cheat to win?”

Trini rolled her eyes. “Technically, I didn’t win.”

“Still cheated.”

“Technically, we didn’t establish any rules to the race, so I did nothing wrong,” Trini shrugged, already heading to the carousel with purpose. 

Kimberly shook her head, flashing her wristband to the ride attendant. As soon as she crossed the barrier, her mouth pulled into a frown. “Has this carousel always had dinosaurs?” she wondered, trying to dig deep into her memories and coming up with nothing. 

“Not  _ just _ dinosaurs,” Trini called over her shoulder, using her hands to pull herself up and onto the saddle of a rather aggressive-looking sabretooth tiger who was stuck in the highest position. 

Just before Kimberly arrived at the much calmer looking sabretooth beside Trinis, an older female child hopped onto it. With an annoyed huff, Kimberly backtracked and climbed atop a huge pterodactyl, whose wingspan was wider than the width of both sabretooth tigers combined. Due to the wings, Kimberly struggled for a few moments to find a comfortable place to sit, opting to straddle the creature’s thick neck. By the time she found her perch, the ride was already in motion, music blaring through the speakers in the center of the ride. She couldn’t hear the other girl over the thunderous tune, but she watched with a soft smile as Trini spoke excitedly with the girl on the animal beside her. Judging by all of the nodding, they were agreeing on something. Suddenly, both girls were baring their teeth and holding up their hands, fingers bent like claws. They shared a laugh and Trini gave the other girl a high-five. It seemed to mark the end of their interaction, and Trini looked over her shoulder to check on Kimberly. 

Most of her face was hidden by her long, wavy hair, but with how the corners of her eyes crinkled, Kimberly could tell she was smiling. After the carousel, the duo passed a few other rides geared towards younger kids. Even though the children aboard the tiny train, mini motorbikes, and happy helicopters looked like they were having a blast, Trini and Kimberly figured they were just a little too old to partake in those adventures. The swings were tempting, but they had to pass it up because Trini’s “ass is too big for the bucket seats”. The dizzy dragons, however, felt just right. 

“You sure you can handle it?” Trini goaded, puffing out her chest. “I made my brothers throw up once,” she said, sounding almost proud of the fact. 

“I happen to be amazing at spinning the teacups, so I’m sure I will have no problem conquering these dragons,” Kimberly declared, leading the way into the ride and choosing the pink dragon, as expected at this point. 

Trini climbed in beside her, sitting a foot or two away. As the carnival worker went around securing the doors on every dragon, Trini elaborated on her story. “Yeah, last year Diego ate some of my dad’s beer-battered cheese curds before we went on rides. By the time we got to the dizzy dragons, he wasn’t feeling too well. We told him to just stay with my mom, but he didn’t want to miss out on the fun, so he insisted on coming with. We had been waiting in line for so long that I wasn’t about to waste the ride by slowing down for him.”

The ride began, and the dragon groaned to life as Trini started pulling on the side of the wheel in the center. “He didn’t even give us a warning; it was awful,” Trini chuckled, smiling at the memory. “He got some on Carlos, then Carlos puked. My dad was convinced Carlos only puked because his brother did. It was disgusting at the time, but pretty funny now that I can’t remember the smell anymore.”

Kimberly’s nose wrinkled in disgust, but she couldn’t help but laugh, too. She was thankful neither of them had a weak stomach. 

With Trini’s short, fast tugs, it didn’t really feel like their dragon was spinning very fast, but one glance outside at the blurred fairgoers revealed that they had definitely picked up some speed. 

But Kimberly knew she could do better. Taking full advantage of her long arms, she leaned forwards to grab the side of the wheel opposite to where she was sitting, pulling it to her right until her hand was back by her body. Be repeating this motion, the dragon slowly picked up momentum. The force of the movement threw Trini practically into Kimberly’s lap, and it became harder and harder to spin the wheel as their bodies were pulled against their backrest from the g-force. 

Trini let out an involuntary squeal, something she would surely deny ever left her mouth, as she struggled to sit up to help spin the wheel. It was no use, and she quickly gave up completely with a huge, delighted smile plastered on her face. Once the wheel locked, signaling that the ride was coming to an end, Trini sat up and fixed her beanie, which had been sliding off of the back of her head. 

“Damn, princess. You’re stronger than you look,” she noted, staring just a little too long at the other girl’s upper arms. 

It did not go unnoticed. “Never underestimate the athleticism of a cheerleader,” Kimberly winked, politely gesturing for Trini to exit the dragon first. 

“Hey, do you mind if we take a little break?” Trini asked once they were back on the midway. 

“What? My superior spinning talents too much for you?” Kimberly teased. 

“No!” Trini all but shouted, physically shrinking into herself a little when she realised how childish she sounded. 

Kimberly didn’t tease her this time, spotting a fresh-squeezed lemonade stand and making a beeline for it while the line was short. “Are you going to get anything?” she wondered.

Trini got up on her tippy-toes, eyeing the menu before shaking her head. “Nah.”

After she ordered and found a bench for them to sit at, Trini spoke. “I’m surprised you didn’t get the pink lemonade.”

Kimberly sighed. “You can tease me about the color pink all you want, but it’s not going to get to me. Pink is awesome.”

“On, no, I just meant because pink lemonade is superior,” Trini clarified, eyeing Kimberly’s drink. 

“I mean, yeah, but sometimes I’m just not in the mood for something sweet,” Kimberly replied thoughtfully, only realizing the potential double meaning of her words after Trini’s eyes darkened considerably. 

“Noted,” Trini said with a sly smile.

Kimberly opted to keep drinking her lemonade before she said something stupid and made a fool of herself. But then again...the other girl had reacted pretty positively...perhaps it was time to be brave for once. 

“You seem pretty competitive...how about we have a little contest?” she suggested.

Trini leaned forwards, her elbows resting on the picnic table separating them. “I’m interested.” 

“Let’s play a couple carnival games. If I win, I get a kiss,” Kimberly proposed boldly. 

“And what makes you think I want to kiss your lemonade mouth?” Trini challenged without breaking eye contact. 

Thinking fast, Kimberly hoped to call the other girl out on a bluff. “Because you can’t go a single conversation without lookoing at my lips.”

Right on cue, dark brown eyes flicked downwards. 

Got her.

Trini pulled her beanie down ever so slightly, as if to make sure her red-tipped ears were still covered. 

“Besides, you would get to choose where to kiss me; it doesn’t have to be on my  _ lemonade mouth _ ,” Kimberly allowed, stressing the odd word choice. 

“Alright,” Trini agreed.

“Really?” Kimberly chimed, not quite believing her good fortune. 

“Yep, and if I win, you pay for the next game I play.”

She could work with that. “Alright, you’re on.”

While they were still near the children’s games, they started with lucky ducky. Kimberly picked a rubber duck with an “M” scrawled on the bottom, earning herself a shiny plastic tiara. Her excitement faded once Trini revealed an “L” on the bottom of her rubber duck, picking out an inflatable sword as her large prize. The same thing happened when they went fishing for toy sharks, but this time, Kimberly only received a holographic picture of a little blonde fairy while Trini got another, smaller inflatable weapon. This time, it was a hammer with “POW” written on the side in big yellow block letters. 

After they finished the children’s games, they made their way past a plethora of food trucks, which were bustling with activity now that it was night time. The flashing lights on the trucks bathed them in reds and yellows, and the scent of fried food was making Kimberly’s stomach growl even though she wasn’t hungry. As they walked, the soft thump of Trini’s sword could faintly be heard amongst the chatter of fairgoers and the mash-up of multiple rides playing music at the same time. After a few consecutive gentle taps to her butt, Kimberly smirked. 

“Yes?” she asked, looking down at Trini, who was the picture of innocence. 

“Hm?” she hummed, now tapping the sword against her stark white sneakers as she walked. 

“I don’t know; I could have sworn I felt something hit my ass a few times,” Kimberly mentioned, poorly feigning nonchalance. 

“Any taps to your ass are purely coincidental,” Trini claimed, doing an equally poor job of disguising her intent. 

“If you say so,” Kimberly replied, not three seconds later feeling another, more forceful, smack, causing the inflatable toy to let out a squeak on impact. The unexpected noise caused them to share a laugh as they finally arrived to the more adult-oriented carnival games. As it turns out, as skilled as Kimberly was at carnival games, Trini always seemed to be just a little bit better. After a round of balloon darts, ring toss, watergun races, and fishbowl toss, Kimberly wasn’t sure if her pride or her wallet had taken a bigger hit. On the bright side, the girls had both completely failed the basketball free throw, which “was clearly rigged; the rim is a fucking oval!” and the rope ladder climb. “Trini, you’re literally upsidown; you can’t win like that.”

“No! I can still climb it like this! I just need to ring the stupid bell!” Trini claimed right before the rope ladder twisted violently, sending her falling into the inflatable below with a  _ boof _ . 

The last game, and the last chance for Kimberly to earn a kiss, was the bucket toss—another game notorious for being rigged in the carnival workers’ favor. 

“Hey, hey, hey, ladies! Just one basket is all it takes to win a big prize for your girlfriend,” the carnival worker exclaimed, trying to reel them into playing. 

“She wishes,” Trini smiled, setting down her inflatable weapons, a goldfish in a bag, and the huge yellow lion plushie she had traded in all of her smaller toys for. 

“Well, maybe we could make it happen if she can win you one of these lovely big prizes,” he encouraged with a wide, charming smile. 

“She can definitely try,” Trini conceded, crossing her arms in anticipation of Kimberly’s inevitable failure.

“What do you say?” he prompted, his arms outstretched and inviting. 

“I’ve at least got to try,” Kimberly sighed, pulling out her wallet for, hopefully, the last time that night. 

“Alright, alright, alright,” he riffed, taking Kimberly’s money and placing it into the right pocket of his apron. “So, all you need to do is toss this ball,” he began, taking a wiffle ball from the left pocket of his apron and holding it out. “Into this bucket,” he continued, gesturing to a large, blue bucket that had been screwed onto a slightly slanted wall. The carnival worker tossed the ball into the bucket and retrieved it a few times just to show them how easy it was. 

Kimberly knew that the man had been trained in the proper technique to make it look effortless, but it still just looked so  _ easy _ . She nodded at him, taking the light, holey ball and licking her lips. Staring into the red and white target painted at the back of the bucket, she took a deep breath, gauged her distance and force, and threw the ball. It went right into the bucket and immediately bounced back out. “Shit,” she exclaimed, her heart pounding in her chest. 

Trini sucked her teeth, creating a  _ tsk _ noise. “Tough break, princess,” she said, holding her hand out expectantly for Kimberly to put money into. 

The taller girl complied, half hoping Trini would miss so she didn’t feel like a total loser. 

“Let me show you how the pros do it,” the shorter girl bragged, throwing the ball into the air a couple times and catching it as she assessed her target. With squinted eyes and a feather-light touch, Trini tossed the ball almost straight into the air. 

Kimberly’s breath hitched, anticipating the ball missing the bucket entirely. 

But the ball landed right at the edge and slid into the target at the bottom.

“Winner, winner, winner,” the carnival worker yelled, making sure to attract as much attention as possible to lure others in. “And what prize does the big winner want tonight?” he clapped, gesturing to the various stuffed animals hanging above him and to his sides. In all honesty, most of them weren’t that cute. Between the banana, jamacian monkey, husky, and rottweiler, Trini chose the latter. 

“Better luck next time, champ,” he offered Kimberly, patting her shoulder a little too forcefully. 

The smile Kimberly gave him back was more like a grimace. Then her eyes fell to Trini, who was looking at all of her prizes and biting her lip. The rottweiler alone was as big as she was. “Here, I can carry some of those,” she offered, picking up the prizes Trini had brought to the bucket toss. She would let her carry the big one, claiming it was so Trini could show off her achievement, but it was really because it was adorable watching the tiny girl struggle to tote around such a large stuffed animal. 

  
“Maybe she’s girlfriend material after all,” she carnival worker winked as they walked away, and this time, Kimberly smiled genuinely.

Trini mumbled something that sounded a lot like “maybe,” but Kimberly couldn’t be completely sure. After walking a few feet, Trini stopped in her tracks. “Actually, uh. I know we’re right by the rides, but could we go drop of these prizes first? I don’t think there’s enough room for all of us,” she joked. 

Kimberly had no idea where a safe place to ‘drop off’ the prizes would be, but she agreed and followed the other girl, who seemed to know this place like the back of her hand. Once they reached the halfway point in the midway, there was a sectioned off tent with an older lady monitoring it. “Prize Donations” was clearly written in big, bold letters. 

“Oh, hello again, Trini, dear! Back with another haul?” the old lady asked with a mischievous twinkle to her eye. 

“You know it, Maureen,” Trini replied with familiarity. She dropped her rottweiler onto the table and gestured for Kimberly to place the lion there as well. Kimberly looked at the prize she traded her smaller prizes for, a light pink elephant, before deciding she didn’t really need it and placed it on the table as well. 

“You keeping those?” Maureen asked, nodding to the inflatables and the fish.

“Yeah, they come in handy,” Trini laughed, taking the hammer and bopping Kimberly on the head with it, touseling her previously perfect brown hair. 

Maureen nodded sagely. “Good for keeping boys away,” she commented with a wink. 

“Yep,” Trini replied, her reply sounding forced. “See you tomorrow!”

“Goodbye, dear!” 

The exchange had been thoroughly unexpected, and Kimberly felt odd as they turned in the direction of the animal barns, armed with only the inflatable weapons and a goldfish. Where were they going? Trini walked with purpose, weaving between fairgoers admiring chickens, then sheep, then pigs. The next barn they went through was absolutely full of rabbits, and Kimberly was momentarily distracted by the adorable creatures. So distracted, in fact, that she almost lost Trini, who was exiting the other side of the rabbit barn already and heading to the horse barn. Once outside of the rabbit barn, their destination became obvious. Behind the horse barn were rows and rows of campers, all parked for exhibitors and volunteers to stay in for the duration of the fair. For the most part, it was shrouded in darkness, but some of the windows were lit, indicating occupants inside. After zig-zagging through a few of the mobile homes, Kimberly recognized some familiar faces. 

“Trini!” Billy exclaimed, extending his arms in excitement from his seat in a lawn chair. His eyes became impossibly wider when he saw who was trailing her. “Kimberly!” he all but shouted, his smile dazzling in the dim orange light of the camper’s yard light. 

His words surprised Jason, who turned around to see the girls for himself. “Glad to see you survived,” he said to Trini, who mockingly laughed in reply. “Nice to see you again, Kimberly,” he added, looking at her in a confused yet amused manner. 

“Kimberly!” could be heard from inside the trailer, along with the sound of some items being knocked over. 

Trini groaned. “Hey, Billy, can you hold this for me?” she asked, handing her goldfish to the boy, who nodded his head, gently taking the bag from her and saying hello to the creature. 

“Are we keeping it?” he asked with barely-concealed excitement. 

“If you want him, you can have him,” she allowed, taking her inflatable hammer from Kimberly with an “excuse me”. 

As soon as messy, jet-black hair poked out of the camper door, Trini assaulted the boy with a myriad of squeaky blows. 

“Hey, hey! Watch it!” the boy Kimberly recognized as Zack called, closing the camper door halfway to try to shield himself. But Trini was stronger and pushed through, yelling at him in Spanish and continuing to hit him with the fake weapon. Kimberly didn’t know much Spanish, but she did recognize a few curse words. Zack’s laughter mixed with the shouting and squeaking. 

Kimberly’s confusion must have been evident because Jason laughed at her expression. “Is anyone going to go help him?” she wondered. 

“I don’t want to get whacked,” Billy replied, intently watching the way the porch light reflected off the scales of the fish. “Trini is strong.”

“That’s...pretty common for them,” Jason revealed, tapping the lawn chair next to him invitingly. “It might be a minute.”

“Okay,” Kimberly said, tentatively sitting on the chair with her hands in her lap. 

“Where are we gonna put him tonight?” Billy asked Jason.

It took Kimberly a second to realize he was referring to his new pet. 

“Uh, I think I have a big, plastic bowl in there we could use. Distilled water is under the sink. We can go get him a tank tomorrow if you want,” Jason offered, smiling at how happy his suggestion made the other boy. 

It was kind of strange to see them interacting like this — two boys with vastly different social statuses acting as though they were childhood friends. It made Kimberly wonder how they got to know each other in the first place.

“It’s almost time to go,” Billy commented after glancing at his watch.

Jason sighed. “Alright, I’ll go break it up,” he said before getting up, taking Billy’s fish, and walking to the camper door. He rapped on it a few times then walked in. The yelling and squeaking stopped. His voice could be heard faintly through the door. “Gotta get Billy’s stuff; you coming with or what?”

That’s all Kimberly could hear before Billy spoke. “So you’re the one who texted Trini?”

“Yep.”

“That’s cool. We were afraid it was going to be a serial killer or something, you know, stranger danger. But you’re not a stranger, not really,” he smiled. Then he laughed, as if something just occurred to him. “Trini wasn’t scared to go meet a complete stranger, but she was probably terrified that it was you,” he chuckled. 

Before Kimberly could ask what the hell that was supposed to mean, the three other occupants of the campsite emerged from the camper. Well, Jason came out with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and a cowboy hat. Zack came out with a cocky grin, and Trini was still on the steps when he opened his big mouth.

“Hey, Kimberly. G-” he started, but Trini leapt off of the top step and landed on his back, wrapping her arm around his face to keep him quiet. 

“Not a word,” she hissed into his ear before sliding down his body and landing squarely on the ground. For good measure, she pointed a threatening finger at him as she walked backwards, approaching Kimberly. 

He just giggled in reply, snatching the cowboy hat out of Jason’s hands and putting it on. 

“Hey, come on, man,” Jason warned. 

“What? It’s not like he can wear it with his headphones on,” Zack reasoned, gesturing to Billy, who was adjusting the fit of the headphones. 

Jason just frowned in reply. Then, as if he had just remembered the girls were there, he turned around. “Hey, do you guys want to come to the concert with us?” he offered politely.

“Do I want to go listen to some yee-haw music with three sweaty boys, surrounded by a bunch of drunks? Hard pass,” Trini replied.

“Hey,” Jason protested, gesturing to Billy.

“What? He can’t hear me,” Trini said, crossing her arms. 

“Yes, I can,” Billy replied, staring at his smart watch. “I’ll go listen to my yee-haw music without you then, Trini.”

“Keep them away from alcohol, will ya?” she directed to Billy, who put his thumbs up in confirmation.

“Says you,” Zack mumbled, earning a glare.

“You’re underage and an idiot; it would be a bad combination,” she bit back. 

“And if any of us are caught with alcohol, we get kicked off the fairgrounds, which means an early morning commute crammed in Billy’s dad’s van,” Jason reminded them. “We do not want that.” 

“Whatever,” Zack said, leaning against the camper. “Are we going to the concert or what?” 

“Yes, we can go now,” Jason allowed. 

Billy practically jumped up from his seat and began leading the way, eager to get to their destination.

“Hey, Zack. Give me your wristband,” Trini said, already walking up to him with her arm extended. 

Zack looked from Trini to Kimberly and nodded, slipping the silver plastic from his wrist. “Just make sure it doesn’t fall off of her; it’s kind of big,” he reminded her.

Trini nodded, taking the wristband and thanking the boy. “Have fun!” she quipped, just a hint of sarcasm this time.

“Um, Zack? Can-can I have my hat back? It fits over the top of my headphones,” Billy requested as they continued walking. 

“See you later, Trini,” Jason called over his shoulder. “Have a nice night, Kimberly!”

“Bye!”

“You, too!”

Then it was just the two of them, alone, in the dark, at a vacant campsite. 

“So,” Trini drawled. “Rides?”

The walk back through the animal barns, down the midway, and to the big rides didn’t take too long. On the way, they passed the boys, who were standing near the back of the crowd at the concert and nodding their heads to the beat. Jason was standing so close to Billy that their arms were flush, even though they didn’t have to be. Trini’s voice brought Kimberly’s thoughts back to the two of them.

“Any preference on where we start?” Trini inquired, looking around at the handful of options. 

“We can just go in a circle,” Kimberly suggested, not wanting to have to push through the crowds more than necessary. She moved to the back of the line for the tilt-a-whirl before Trini laughed quietly, grabbing her wrist. Kimberly’s heart pounded as Trini’s hand moved down to cup hers, but it was only to slip Zack’s wristband on.

“You’ll have to slide it up your arm so it doesn’t fall off,” Trini said, moving her hand back up to Kimberly’s wrist and leading the girl to the front of the line. She held up her and Kimberly’s linked arms, and the carnival worker noticed the wristbands and nodded, allowing them to board the ride immediately. 

“Damn, what did you have to do to get these?” Kimberly wondered with a smile, following Trini as she walked around the inner parameter of the ride, seemingly searching for a certain seat. 

“Everyone who volunteers over twelve hours of unpaid service to the fair gets a front-of-the-line ride pass and free fair admission. Most of the volunteers are adults who don’t use the ride perk, but for the few teenagers who got swindled into working the food booth to cover for people who didn’t show up, it almost makes up for it,” Trini explained, crawling into the car.

“Doesn’t seem like a bad deal to me,” Kimberly said, thinking back to all of the hours she would waste standing in line, waiting to go on rides with her friends in past years. 

“You work a triple shift on ice cream duty, you’ll reconsider that statement,” Trini said with a mirthless laugh. The ride began, and a smile pulled at her lips. Her fingers clenched the handlbars, the sides of them touching Kimberly’s.

The tilt-a-whirl was only fun if you knew exactly when and what direction to lean, making the car spin on its well-greased pivot point. Thankfully, both girls had fantastic timing, and the force of the spin was enough to have Trini, once again, practically on top of Kimberly each time they spun to the left. When the ride was slowing to a stop, they continued spinning the car, just for fun, until the pivot point locked and the car stopped turning. Wide smiles adorned their faces as they exited the ride, easily spotting the cliff hanger as their next destination. That ride was meant to simulate hang-gliding, and, although it was a pretty mild ride in terms of g-force, it offered something the other rides did not—the sensation of flying. The girls were able to get spots laying right next to each other. Kimberly felt a little stupid laying there with her arms and feet dangling at first, but once the ride became airborne, she forgot all about it. It truly felt as though she was flying —the wind rushing through her hair, the way the ride ascended and swooped down, like a raptor honing in on its prey. The feeling was indescribable. For just a second, she chanced a glance to her left, finding Trini extending her arms and closing her eyes, a contented smile on her lips. Kimberly figured the girl was always breathtaking, but this time, she seemed different. Softer. 

After the ride, Kimberly and Trini laid there while the carnival worker was going around and unlocking each individual hang glider.

“When I was younger, I used to help hand out ribbons when they would show animals. And I would spend hours a day doing that, on my feet, on the concrete —just to see the smiles on the other kids’ faces when they earned their prize. And then I would work a shift at the 4h food booth, on my feet for another few hours. It was so tiring, especially for a kid. So every day, after I was done, I would come and ride this. And it was just so...relaxing. I actually fell asleep on it once, “ Trini revealed with a laugh. “And the carnival worker recognized me from earlier that week and just let me stay on it for a few hours while I slept.” She shook her head fondly at the memory. 

Kimberly smiled at the story, her heart aching from the mental picture, but in a good way. Every little story that Trini was offering to share revealed so much more to the girl than her rude exterior. She wished that she had fond fair memories to share, too, but all of the nights her and her friends spent buzzed and shamelessly flirting with random boys they would never speak to again seemed messy, looking back. This year’s fair was a completely different experience, and Kimberly couldn’t be happier that it had all worked out this way.

Trini cleared her throat and kicked at a clump of dry mud in the grass. “Scrambler, next?” she asked, nodding to the next ride in near distance. 

“Sure,” Kimberly nodded, feeling a pang of guilt that her silence had made the girl uncomfortable. As they made their way to the front of the line, she decided to speak. “Sorry about being so quiet, it’s just...I come to the fair every year, too, but it was always...different. I would come with my best friends, and they were convinced you needed alcohol to have fun. And they didn’t really care about anything but hooking up with boys,” she admitted. “Sometimes it was fun, but mostly it was just kind of...embarrassing, now that I think about it,” she said, knitting her eyebrows together. 

“Yeah, it  _ is _ embarrassing,” Trini agreed, making Kimberly’s head snap in her direction. But there wasn’t malice in her expression, just understanding. “But that’s what a lot of teenagers do here—pregame, play games, go on rides, and make out with strangers by the lake,” she laughed. “It’s the perfect time in our life to be stupid and have fun,” she shrugged. “No shame in that.” 

The corner of Kimberly’s mouth quirked in a smile as the ride began to move. 

“But there _ is  _ shame in losing all your money on carnival games because your drunk coordination is shot, puking on the rides because you can’t handle your liquor, and finding out the girl you made out with in the dark on the big witch is actually your cousin because this town is so goddamn small,” Trini added, the hint of a rueful smile showing through. “Not that I would know anything about that.” 

A shameless laugh erupted out of Kimberly, aided by the fact that the ride was speeding up and, subsequently, pulling her into Trini. She gripped the handlebar and tried to pull herself over a little, but the g-force was unrelenting. It was then that she noticed the sticker on the back of the car in front of them: “Larger persons on right”. Well, they didn’t think that through. As the ride continued to speed up, poor Trini was being absolutely smushed between Kimberly and the hard metal of the car. “I’m sorry!” Kimberly yelled, but Trini just laughed in reply. Besides her body folding in on itself uncomfortably from the pressure, she looked like she didn’t mind in the slightest that the other girl was crushing her. After the ride slowed, Kimberly scooted over and apologized again, but Trini told her not to worry about it. One glance at each other and they were both laughing at how messed up their hair had gotten. Trini’s was an easy fix; all she had to do was comb all of her hair back over to the right, the left side still neatly done with braids. Kimberly’s, however, was almost a lost cause. 

They both giggled at the sight, and Trini offered a helping hand, moving sections of hair until at least the part was straight again. “Sucks you can’t put it in a ponytail anymore,” Trini commented offhandedly, then blushed a little at the revelation that she remembered how Kimberly’s hair looked months ago.

Kimberly shrugged, looking at Trini’s face so close to hers and secretly thanking herself for making the rash decision of cutting her own hair in the school bathroom last semester.

“Do you want to go on the big witch next, or?” Trini wondered as they exited the scrambler. 

Kimberly raised an eyebrow and offered a cocky smirk. “Too scared for the haunted house, are we?”

“No, it’s just kind of lame,” Trini said, rolling her eyes. Even though she used to close her eyes during the ride as a kid, just in case, the ride mostly consisted of loud noises and bright, flashing lights. The props inside were kind of gross, but there weren’t any live actors, which would have made it significantly more exciting. 

“Suit yourself. I was going to offer to hold your hand.” Kimberly casually slipped, glancing at Trini from her peripheral. 

“I mean, we can go—if you really want to,” Trini backtracked. 

“No, no, It’s fine. We can go on the zipper; it’s much more exciting,” Kimberly replied, already heading towards the scary-looking cages on the ride. 

Trini pouted but followed the other girl. In truth, she was way more scared of the zipper than any of the other rides here. Going to the front of the line, Kimberly waited for Trini to catch up before they entered the cage, packed tight against one another. The carnival worker slammed the metal door, causing the handlebar to jam into Trini’s lap. The whole cage vibrated with the impact, and she swallowed hard, looking at all of the rusty bolts inside of it. Their cage ascended as the worker loaded the next one.

Kimberly must have noticed her apprehension. “Hey, are you alright?” she wondered, trying to look over at Trini despite the front and back headrests constraining her movement. 

“What? Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just—this ride is so old, and all the metal makes a lot of weird noises and stuff and I kind of feel like it’s going to fall apart,” she rambled. The cage ascended again. “My dad said it’s the same one he used to ride as a kid; doesn’t that seem a little weird? And why do they only fill half the cages? Don’t you think they would try to fit as many people on as possible?”

“Hey, if it wasn’t safe, they wouldn’t have it. It’ll be alright,” Kimberly assured the other girl. “I can hold your hand if you’d like” she half-joked. The next cage was loaded.

“I think I’ll need the handlebars, but thanks,” Trini said, laughing anxiously. 

“I’m sorry; if I would have known you didn’t like this one, I wouldn’t have made you go on it,” Kimberly apologized. The ride moved again.

“I’ll live,” she said. The ride jolted as the last cage was loaded. Trini took a deep breath. “Hopefully.”

Once the ride started, it took all Trini’s strength to stay as still as possible as the cage rolled unforgivingly. She was small, so the headrests and the handlebars didn’t quite fit her body, leaving more room for her to be thrown around like a ragdoll if she didn’t brace herself. That was the last thing she wanted, so she held on for dear life and tried to keep her head back, which was hard when the cage would change directions unexpectedly. The ride was always so chaotic —you never quite knew where you were or what direction you were going in. You were at the complete mercy of the ride until it was over. And the end couldn’t come fast enough.. 

Once the ride was finished, the cage still swung violently as they waited for the carnival worker to let them out. 

“You alright?” Kimberly asked.

“Yep,” Trini confirmed, rubbing her neck a little. 

“Do you want to take a break or something?” Kimberly offered. 

“Yeah, I could go for a slushie,” Trini decided, practically jumping out of the cage once the carnival worker opened the door. The metal groaned loudly with the motion.

“Okay,” Kimberly agreed. As she followed Trini, the shorter girl looked back and took her hand, leading her through the tightly-packed crowds of people waiting in line for rides. Thankfully, the snow-cone and slushie stand wasn’t too far away. 

“You want anything?” Trini wondered, letting go of the other girl’s hand once they got in line. 

“Uh, I actually don’t really have much money left,” Kimberly admitted. “So, I’ll pass this time.”

“Do you want red or blue?” Trini asked with a look that said negotiation was futile. 

“Red,” Kimberly smiled thankfully. 

After they ordered and received their beverages, Trini took Kimberly’s hand, an automatic gesture at this point, and led her back to where they met just a few hours ago. Down by the lake, the only light provided was cast from the rides. It was the perfect place for teenagers to get together out of the eyes of the public, and they were certainly not alone sitting on the grass. 

Trini untied her flannel and laid it on the ground so both of them could sit on it. 

“Thanks,” Kimberly said, referring to the flannel. “For everything,” she added, holding up her slushie a little. 

“It’s the least I can do for hustling you out of all of your money for carnival games,” Trini smirked, taking a big gulp of her slushie.

Kimberly chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so.” They sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying their frozen treats. “So, how do you all know each other? You and the boys?” Kimberly asked, finally voicing the question that had been on her mind since this morning.

“Well, Jason’s little sister, Pearl, is in the same 4h club as my brothers, so we end up volunteering with them for that kind of stuff all the time. Jason became friends with Billy in detention at school. And I run into Zack pretty frequently when I go hiking —he lives on the mountain with his mom. Billy offered to volunteer at the 4h food booth when Jason said they would be short. I can’t drive, and Jason doesn’t have a car, so Billy offered his dad’s van so we could carpool. But it’s kind of unreliable, and the commute would have sucked, so Jason’s grandma said we could use her camper all week. Apparently, they used to go camping a lot, but it looked like it hadn’t been used in years. I don’t really know Jason or Billy that well, so I pretty much forced Zack to come with so it wouldn’t be so awkward. Oddly enough, we all get along pretty well,” Trini explained, taking another sip of her drink.

Kimberly nodded, processing the information. “Yeah, you and Zack seem like you get along real well,” she teased.

Trini rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “He’s a moron, but he’s my moron, you know? Don’t tell him I said that.” 

Kimberly laughed, nodding. 

After a few moments of peace, a small group of teenage boys made their way down the hill. Unfortunately, when you’re Kimberly Hart, you come with a reputation. 

“Do my eyes deceive me, or is that Kimberly Hart?” one of the boys asked, knowing full well who was sitting in front of him. He crouched down in front of the girls. “Got any more nudes of your buddies you want to share? I’d love to see them.”

“Get lost,” Kimberly replied coldly. 

Some of the boys said “Ooh” behind him.

“How about some nudes of you?” another asked, nodding to Kimberly.

“I’d pay to see that.” one chipped in.    
  


“Me, too; want to make some quick cash, baby?” the first guy inquired, reaching towards Kimberly. 

While Kimberly was fully prepared to lash at him with her words, Trini grabbed his outstretched hand. “She said get lost,” she growled.

“Oh you’re real intimidating, blue,” he said, referring to how the slushie had dyed the girl’s lips and tongue. “Did you let a smurf come in your mouth?” His lackeys cheered him on.

“Wrong answer,” Trini said, sharply twisting the boy’s hand in a way that threatened to break his fingers.

“Ah! What the fuck!”

Trini leaned uncomfortably close to him, still holding his hand hostage. “You think you can do whatever you want because your old man’s the sheriff, and people are scared of him, but I think they’ve got it all wrong. I think that if I tell him what you just said, and that you were harassing my friend, he wouldn’t think twice about getting the belt out. After all, he is an old man, this is an old town, and traditions die hard,” she said calmly. 

They stared at each other for an uncomfortably long few seconds. Trini’s face was hard as stone. 

He wore what could only be described as an angry pout, one of a boy who wasn’t used to things not going his way. “Psycho bitch,” he spat, only pulling his hand free because Trini allowed him to. 

She knew she had won. “Enjoy the fair,” she called sourly as they retreated. “God, I fucking hate boys,” she added once they were a good distance away.

“Thanks,” Kimberly said.

Trini shook her head. “You would’ve had it; I just can’t resist joining in on a fight. I’ve been wanting to break more than just that prick’s fingers for a while now. He could at least have the decency to recognize his frequent victims,” she trailed off, sipping her slushie. 

Kimberly frowned, imagining Trini being bullied in school. “Do you really think his dad would beat him?” She wondered, trying to change the subject. 

“Oh yeah,” Trini replied with certainty. “Why do you think he is the way he is?”

After a couple minutes of relative silence, only the sounds of flavored ice moving through straws in the immediate area, Kimberly spoke up. “So, what’s next in our itinerary?” 

Trini squinted, taking the rest of the rides in. “Are you cool if we skip the himalayas?” she inquired. The ski-lodge themed ride featured ski-lift shaped cars on a track that went in a circle pretty fast. It wasn’t all that exciting. 

“Yeah,” Kimberly allowed. The ridiculously loud music coming from the center of the ride was a bit of a turn-off, too.

“Looks like we’ve just got the starship 4000, the pharaoh ferry, and the freak out left, then,” Trini assessed, shaking her slushie cup to make the contents easier to suck through the straw.

Kimberly cocked her head adorably. 

“What?” Trini half said and half laughed, straw between her teeth.

Kimberly looked up at the ferris wheel, which they weren’t too far from. 

Trini raised an eyebrow.

Kimberly gestured to the ride. 

Trini didn’t falter. 

“Oh, come on! The ferris wheel is like  _ the _ quintessential fair ride!”

“It’s also hands-down  _ the _ most boring ride ever created,” she rebutted. 

Kimberly shook her head incredulously. “It’s not about fun; it’s about getting to see the entire fair at once and getting a moment alone within the chaos!”

Trini laughed, finishing her slushie and crushing the cup. “Thinking about a moment alone, are we?” 

“All I’m saying is that you should reconsider,” Kimberly prompted, eating the rest of her slushie hurriedly. 

“I’ll think about it,” Trini allowed, rising from the ground and offering a hand to Kimberly to take as she got up. Afterwards, she picked up her flannel and shook off the dry dirt before tying it around her waist. The two girls threw out their garbage and walked back to the midway, which was dying down a little now that it was getting late. The lines mostly consisted of other people their age—the children probably asleep in their beds by now and the adults drinking and dancing at the country music concert. It was kind of nice to not have to worry about either age group watching and judging them. Even though they lived in a small town, many of their peers were pretty understanding in terms of same-gender romance. 

That knowledge made Kimberly feel bolder. She had already lost her best friends, her head cheerleader title, and the respect of most of her classmates. What did she have to lose now? Her fingers threaded through Trini’s, and the shorter girl offered her a smile. 

Oddly enough, there weren’t many people in line for the starship 4000. Due to this, the girls decided to simply wait in line. Hands still linked, Kimberly began some small talk. “Didn’t this have a different name before?” she wondered, the memory a faint whisp she couldn’t quite grasp.

“Gravitron, yeah,” Trini recalled. 

“Sounds like a transformer,” Kimberly noted. 

Trini chuckled. “The real question is would it be an autobot or a decepticon?”

“Decepticon, for sure,” Kimberly decided quickly. 

“Wouldn’t have pegged you as someone who likes Transformers,” Trini replied, squinting in faux-suspicion. 

“I don’t; I like Megan Fox,” Kimberly smirked. 

Trini chuckled, nodding. 

“I wonder why they changed it,” Kimberly pondered, watching how all of the individual lights swirled together as the ride spun. “The name,” she clarified. 

“Nincky Min-janj,” Trini said so quietly that the other girl almost didn’t hear it. 

Kimberly’s head snapped down. 

Trini’s eyes widened once she realized that she had been heard. 

“Did you just-was that a Vine reference?” Kimberly asked, barely holding back her amusement. 

“Here we go!” Trini exclaimed as the other passengers exited the ride, and the people in front of them began to board it. She hastily led the other girl up the ramp and into the spaceship, hoping the past few seconds would be forgotten in the excitement. Lucky for her, Kimberly seemed content to leave it in the past. 

They were able to claim two places right next to each other, but Trini’s belt wouldn’t fasten. On any other big ride she would be worried, but she knew the g-force would sufficiently hold her in place once the ride got going. 

After all of the passengers found their place, the carnival worker closed the hatch and climbed into the booth located in the center of the ride. He yelled a few safety guidelines out, but with his thick accent and the pop music blaring from the speakers mounted on top of the booth, it was unintelligible. The music became impossibly louder as the ride began to spin, the carnival worker’s booth spinning right along with it. In just a few seconds, Kimberly’s body was thoroughly stuck to the wall of the ride, and she giggled as she tried to lift her and Trini’s locked hands to no avail. When she turned her head to the side to look at the other girl, her cheek pulled away from her face. It was uncomfortable to laugh, but the both of them looked too ridiculou not to. 

Now that everyone was stuck like flies on flypaper, the floor dropped from below their feet, creating the illusion that everyone was floating. Some newbies to the ride screamed in alarm before realizing that if they couldn’t lift a limb they probably weren’t going to fall. 

Trini smirked at their panic, the expression even more lopsided due to the g-force. 

Kimberly laughed at her before noticing something a few places away. A young boy, no more than ten, was adjusting his position, inch by inch. She watched in amazement as he turned in his place. After multiple failed attempts to point at him so Trini would see, she decided to nod her head in his direction and yell “look,” even though the odds were slim that Trini could hear her. 

Thankfully, Trini correctly interpreted the message and slowly but surely turned her head until it was facing the boy, who was upside-down at this point. 

By now, all of the passengers that weren’t closing their eyes had surely noticed him. Some were thrilled with his daredevil moves; some were terrified for his safety. Kimberly was sure everyone was wondering where the hell his chaperone was. Oddly enough, the carnival worker didn’t make a big deal out of it, even though he recited the rules before he began the ride. The kid wore the same shit-eating-grin that Kimberly had seen painted on Trini’s face a couple times. He was loving the attention. He struck a few funky poses before making his way back to the normal standing position, knowing the ride was almost over. 

Sure enough, a few moments later, the floor rose up until it was flush against the bottom of everyone’s shoes. Now that everyone was secure, the ride slowed momentum. With every second, Kimberly could feel her body relaxing and gravity taking hold once more. The ride stopped, the lights came on, and the carnival worker popped open the hatch located in the side of the ride, lowering it until it was secure to walk on. One passenger already had their safety belt undone and was hastily walking out, likely to find the nearest garbage can. 

Trini chuckled darkly at the sight

Kimberly took off her safety belt with her right hand so she didn’t need to let go of Trini. As the two girls waited for the passengers closer to the door to exit, they noticed that the little boy had crawled into the control booth. Kimberly’s heartbeat spiked in alarm until she saw him pull a Disney’s Descendants themed lunchbox from near his feet and take out a juice box. 

“Must be take your kid to work day,” Trini said, looking to the carnival worker in the new lighting, revealing a striking resemblance to the child. 

Kimberly laughed incredulously, shaking her head. The pharaoh’s ferry was located right next to the starship 4000, but the line was so long that Kimberly couldn’t see the end of it. “Damn. Thanks again for thinking of using Zack’s wristband for me.” 

“No problem. He always gets it extra loose for that exact reason,” she revealed once they arrived at the front of the line. “The carnies don’t really seem to care as long as everyone has a wristband; so if anyone gives us any shit, I’ll fight them,” she said, waving sarcastically at the glaring girl who was previously at the front of the line. “Where do you like to sit?” she wondered, looking up at the taller girl.

Kimberly smirked, boldly strutting to the very last seats and sliding in.

“My kinda girl,” Trini approved.

The wording sent a blush creeping across Kimberly’s chest despite her air of confidence. “If you don’t fly at least two feet out of your seat and fear for your life, is it even worth riding?” she asked rhetorically, pulling the restraining bar down once they were both inside. 

Trini hummed in agreement. Her hands drummed impatiently along the restraining bar as the rest of the passengers boarded the ride. She took the extra time to admire the golden craft, as she always did. It was long and sleek, shaped to look like a boat. Each end of the boat featured a pharaoh’s head, painted much like the one for ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun. “God, I love this ride,” she said passionately. 

“Me, too,” Kimberly agreed. 

“It’s just so beautiful!” Trini exclaimed. “Makes me feel like Hatshepsut.” 

Kimberly looked down at the other girl. “Am I supposed to know what that means?”

“ _ Hatshepsut _ !” Trini repeated. “You didn’t have an Egypt phase?” she said, snaking her head in faux disappointment. “She’s one of the baddest bitches in history, and I, for one, am not going to let her be forgotten.” 

Kimberly chuckled. “I thought I wouldn’t have to do any studying this summer.” 

“Well, we will have to watch some documentaries together,” Trini said offhandedly, too busy admiring the details of the ride to see the shocked and excited look on Kimberly’s face. 

Once everyone was aboard, the carnival worker went through and made sure all of the restraining bars were secure before beginning the ride. As always, it took about three swings for the boat to really gain some momentum. 

By the fourth swing, Kimberly felt her butt lift off of the seat a little. The action was paired with the familiar funny feeling in her stomach that she constantly craved. She found herself pleased with the fact that it had been so easily achieved by making safe and fun decisions tonight rather than rash and stupid ones, like she usually ended up doing. Maybe life was just taking her in a new direction. It was scary that so much had changed in the past couple of months, but one thing was clear. She was having way more fun following her heart, free of the fear of social ridicule, than she ever had maintaining her old, plastic lifestyle. 

Trini’s excited squeak as the ride made its highest swing made Kimberly giggle with glee. Both of them had risen significantly from their seats, only the restraining bar keeping them from being launched into the star-studded sky. When the boat lunged forwards, they fell back into their seats. The people seated on the opposite side screamed loudly as they met the highest point. Once the boat began to rise on the girls’ end, those passengers yelled loudly as well, seemingly mocking the people sitting across from them. This turned into a yelling match between the two sides. Even Kimberly joined in, yelling as loud as she could as she lifted from her seat each time. It was all in good fun, and Kimberly was still smiling widely afterwards, as they made their way to the freak out. 

If Kimberly thought the line for the pharaoh’s ferry was long, it had nothing on the line for the biggest ride at the fair: the freak out. It featured a couple support bars that held onto a claw, of sorts. Each finger of the claw had a short row of seats attached. Once in motion, the hand of the claw spun around while the arm of the claw was swinging. It was a lot of g-force packed into a carnival ride. The girls happily strut to the front of the line, standing behind the gate while the ride slowed down. 

“Think you’re tall enough to ride this one?” Kimberly teased. 

Trini let go of the other girl’s hand in mock offense. Truthfully, she was only confident she was tall enough because none of the carnival workers had ever turned her down. Then again, maybe they were just being nice…she attempted to casually glance at the height restrictions, but it was impossible to see from where they were on the steps. 

Kimberly noticed but hid her smile.

Soon after, the passengers of the ride were set free. The girls flashed their wristbands and rapidly found seats next to each other. Kimberly got onto her tippy toes to reach the seat. 

Trini had to grasp the seat and hoist herself up due to her height. As soon as she was settled, she carefully kicked off her shoes. A couple other passengers followed suit shortly after, dropping their sandals and flip flops, for the most part. 

“Do you honestly think your sneakers would fall off?” Kimberly wondered. 

“Can’t be too careful,” Trini claimed, staring down at them with adoration. As an afterthought, she removed her beanie, swiftly running her hand through her locks before anyone could catch her with hat hair. 

Kimberly momentarily became distracted with thoughts of running her fingers through Trini’s hair. So distracted, that she didn’t notice the carnival worker coming around and pulling the hanging rollercoaster-style restraining bars over passengers’ bodies until he was right in front of her, giving her a little scare. 

“It’s okay, miss,” he assured her, pulling the bar down over her body and yanking on it a few times to show the locking feature. “Very safe. You only need to worry about losing your items.”

“N-no, I-“

“And throwing up,” he added, already moved on to locking Trini’s bar. “Nice kicks.” 

“Thanks,” Trini replied. 

Once he returned to his control booth, Trini glanced over at Kimberly and jut out her lip. “You gonna be okay, Kimberly? Can’t hold your hand from here,” she teased. 

Kimberly rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t scared of the ride, I just didn’t see him coming,” she reasoned. 

“You couldn’t see him go around this tiny circle, passing in front of you several times, until he got to you?” Trini said, squinting her eyes in suspicion.

The ride creaked as it slowly began to swing. Kimberly clutched the bars. “I was distracted!” 

“Oh yeah?” Trini boasted, already knowing the answer to the question that fell from her lips. “By what?” 

“You,” Kimberly answered, her hair whipping around her face already. 

“What’s wrong with me?” Trini asked.

Kimberly, unable to see that the other girl was joking, fumbled. “Nothing!”

“What?” Trini called, pretending not to hear her due to the wind now that the ride was spinning and swinging.

“Nothing, you’re just hot!” 

“What?” Trini all but yelled. 

“You’re hot!” Kimberly hollered, hair swooping out of her face just long enough to see Trini grinning happily, not looking at her. 

“What?” Trini asked again, just as loud as the last time.

A gasp of betrayal left Kimberly upon realizing Trini was just teasing her. Ah, what the hell? “I, KIMBERLY HART, THINK TRINI IS REALLY HOT,” she yelled, not caring if the whole world heard her. 

“Oh my god!” Trini chuckled, a faint blush heating her cheeks. 

“Do you want me to say it again?” Kimberly inquired.

“No, Jesus, I think my dead grandma even heard you!” Trini laughed.

By the end of the ride, Kimberly’s face was sore from smiling so much, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. 

“I can’t believe you did that,” Trini smiled, shaking her head and shoving the other girl lightly. “Now everyone’s going to know about your big crush on me.”

“Good, maybe they’ll be too intimidated to hit on you, then,” Kimberly half-joked. “Give myself a better chance.”

“No one ever hits on me, so I think I’m intimidating enough on my own,” Trini said boredly, fishing her beanie out from her pocket to pull back on her head. “Not that it matters. No one else caught my eye, anyway.”

Kimberly stopped in her tracks. “Are you admitting that you had a crush on me?” 

“Everyone has a crush on you; it’s not  _ that _ crazy,” Trini reminded her, her voice casual even though her heart was beating wildly. Her eyes scanned the scenery. They were stopped right in front of the ferris wheel. The bright, colorful images of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers stared back at her, spray painted all over the ride’s exterior. She stopped in her tracks. Then approached the ride. 

Kimberly gasped. “Are we really going on the ferris wheel?” she exclaimed excitedly. “Don’t tease me, Trini.”

“If I’m teasing you, you’ll know it,” Trini said smoothly as they approached the loading point for the ride. 

Kimberly tripped on nothing. 

There wasn’t anyone in line, so they scooted into the green pod, sitting so that their arms and legs were flush even though there was plenty of room for both of them. The carnival attendant closed the little metal gate and walked back to his post. Seconds later, their pod rose. The ferris wheel was achingly slow and stopped for every other pod to load. Kimberly was ecstatic. She leaned forwards slightly, watching all of the people below get smaller and smaller. 

“I still don’t see why you think this ride is so cool,” Trini said boredly, wishing their pod would just get to the top already. “It’s cold up here,” she added, pulling her flannel from around her waist and putting it on. 

“It’s just a classic! It’s like one of the first rides you ever go on as a kid at the fair! It goes higher up than any of the other rides! When you get to the top you can see so far away!” she listed, motioning to the ground below. They were steadily climbing higher, and most of the midway could be seen at this point.   
  
“But it’s so slow!” Trini groaned. “One year they had a ride just as tall that went all the way around! Way cooler. You could only ride it twice a day or it might kill you. They punched your wristband just to make sure.”  
  
“Well, I’m sorry that you don’t understand the ferris wheel, Didi. Maybe you’ll come to appreciate it with time,” Kimberly jested, eyes flicking down to Trini’s name tag from the food booth, still clipped onto her flannel. 

The name tag was unclipped in an instant, and Trini whipped it out of the back of the pod, towards the field where they drank their slushies earlier. 

Kimberly turned quickly, watching the item fall to the ground. “Trini! That could have killed someone from this height!” she chided.   
  
“I threw it _away_ from the people,” Trini shrugged. 

“Why did your nametag say Didi anyway?” Kimberly asked right as the pod arrived at the top of the wheel.   
  
Trini fumbled for a moment before realizing the ride kept going rather than stopping. Damn it. “Uh, it’s just a stupid running joke. People can never get my name right,” she mumbled, still distracted. 

“Are you okay?” Kimberly asked, picking up on Trini’s uneasiness. 

“What? Yeah, I’m fine!”  
  
“You’re acting the same way you did on the zipper, and you weren’t fine then,” Kimberly pointed out, placing her hand on Trini’s thigh in a comforting manner. 

Well, it was supposed to be comforting, but it only made Trini’s heart flutter more. “Really, Kimberly; I’m fine,” Trini reassured her, sounding a little more convincing this time. 

“You’re not afraid of heights, and this is a pretty structurally sound ride,” Kimberly started while Trini rolled her eyes. “Is it the rocking?” she wondered. 

“I’m not afraid of this lame ride,” Trini urged. 

“Oh? Then you won’t mind if I do this?” Kimberly said just seconds before she swayed dramatically, causing the pod to rock violently. 

“Geez, Kimberly! The sticker clearly says no rocking!” Trini yelled, grasping the sides of the pod for dear life. “Who’s trying to kill someone now?” 

Kimberly laughed easily, steadying the pod back out with her arms. “Still you.”

Trini’s eyebrow raised. 

“Almost had a heart attack when I saw you this morning,” Kimberly clarified, attempting to be smooth.

Trini rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Oh my god.” Instead of being embarrassed, the two of them shared a laugh. 

“Thanks for hanging out with me today. I don’t remember the last time I had this much real fun,” Kimberly said genuinely. 

“As opposed to fake fun?” Trini joked lightly. 

“Honestly? Yeah. Fun I can actually remember. Fun with someone I genuinely like.”

“No problem,” Trini replied quietly. The pod stopped. They had come back around and were once again at the highest point of the ride. 

Kimberly’s smile shone as she leaned forwards, taking in the landscape of colorful lights and mobs of people far below her. “I wasn’t finished before,” she said, and Trini cocked her head. “My  _ favorite _ part about the ferris wheel is that, even though there’s thousands of people and hundreds of animals here, and music playing in every direction, when you’re on the top of the ferris wheel it’s different. All of the life below seems so insignificant. There’s less noise. It’s peaceful.

Trini looked down below, able to see every ride, every building, every food truck—even all the way over to Jason’s campsite. All of the people down below were just little specks in the distance, clumped around the rides and the concert stage. The lights from the rides and the food trucks danced among the sea of those specks, bathing them in beautiful colors. All the way up here, the music was much quieter. Almost indistinguishable unless you used all of your focus to try to decipher the lyrics. Kimberly was right. There was something special about the ferris wheel. It did make her feel at peace. 

No, it wasn’t the ferris wheel. Well, it was, a little bit. But Trini realized that all night she had felt this way. Felt like she could think clearly. Felt comfortable in the midst of others. Felt like she could be herself. Kimberly made her feel like that. So she leaned forwards, too. Her arms outstretched, and her hands gently cupped Kimberly’s cheek and turned her face towards her. With a second to gaze into brown eyes for confirmation that these feelings were reciprocated, she leaned in, closed her eyes, and kissed her. It was gentle and slow, something she cherished like it might be the last time. When she backed away, she waited a few moments to open her eyes, almost scared to bring herself back to reality, but finally brave enough to face it. 

“Huh,” Kimberly said, still staring into Trini’s eyes while her expression remained blank.   
  
Trini’s heart pounded as she waited for the other girl to say something else.

“Kinda...fishy.” 

Not at all what she was expecting, the panic set in. What had she done? Why the  _ fuck _ did she taste fishy?!

“Get it? Because you got kissed by a sea lion earlier,” Kimberly clarified, chuckling softly. Her smile was wide and bright, and her eyes revealed no malice. 

“She kissed me on the  _ cheek _ , you moron,” Trini chuffed. 

Kimberly continued to laugh, leaning in to kiss the other girl again, this time less tentatively. The ride began to move again, and she fell forwards. Her body pressed into the smaller girl, and her hand rested on the edge of the pod next to Trini’s head to steady herself. Her tongue swiped Trini’s bottom lip, and she was granted access quickly. 

Kimberly’s kisses were making Trini lightheaded, but in a way that made her hypnotically dazed. In a way that made her want to kiss this girl for the rest of her life. Their kisses were cut off, however, by the realization that their pod had been stopped for a while now. The creaking of the metal gate at the front of the pod confirmed their fears.   
  
Both of them blushed furiously as the carnival worker snickered, motioning for them to exit the pod. Trini reached up and adjusted her beanie, which had become skewed when Kimberly realized her goal of running her hands through Trini’s hair. 

Kimberly cleared her throat and took Trini by the hand, leading them as far away from the ferris wheel as she could. Once they were an acceptable distance away, they both burst out laughing. When their laughter died down, and they had almost made it to the concert stage, Kimberly spoke.  
  
“So, what made you decide to kiss me? I lost every single game in our bet,” she reminded the other girl.  
  
“I lost a bet to myself.” 

* * *  
  


“Oh, hey, guys!” Jason greeted Kimberly and Trini when they arrived at the concert. His greeting alerted the other boys of the girls’ presence.   
  
“I didn’t know they made grape slushies,” Billie commented, furrowing his eyebrows.   
  
“What are you talking about?” Kimberly started, equally as confused as the boy.   


Trini looked at Kimberly, noticing how the girl’s previously red-dyed lips were now purple. Her fingers leapt up to touch her own previously blue-dyed lips. “SHUT IT, CRANSTON!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think of the story? What parts did you like, and what parts could I improve on? Thank you for reading and commenting! :3  
> Also, feel free to check out my Trimberly playlist on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/33zlHh92WBgLrEYOqIajMv


End file.
